Body mouldings are the strips of rubber, metallic or painted embellishments which are fitted to the exterior surfaces of a conveyance, such as a vehicle, and which often have the added function of providing a degree of protection from damage which would otherwise occur from bumping or similar light contact against the exterior surface. Such body mouldings are generally fitted with a double sided adhesive tape. The adhesive used is of sufficient gripping power to prevent easy removal of the moulding from the vehicle, but which provides maximum adherence between the moulding and the tape itself, to thus enable the moulding to be peeled from the vehicle while the tape remains adhered to the moulding.
In the repair of conveyances such as motor vehicles, the body moulding is generally the first item to be removed from the damaged panel. The moulding is often suitable for re-use once the panel has been fixed and refitted, however, before the moulding can be re-used, the double sided adhesive tape must be removed. This is usually a time consuming and expensive operation. There are basically four ways of doing this, viz by grinding, using a solvent, hot blowing or using a razor blade or a thumb.
Recent developments in body mouldings have seen changes in the materials used in the mouldings due to a desire for improved aesthetics, changes in manufacturing processes and more accessibility to raw materials. The materials from which body mouldings are formed has shifted to include not only the traditional polyurethanes, but also thermoplastic polyolefins. The removal of double sided tape from these new materials can require new techniques due to the different way in which these materials behave.
Grinding with a grinding wheel can be used to remove double sided tape, but it frequently damages the moulding or leaves an undesirable surface on the moulding which means that the moulding cannot in some cases be properly re-fitted and is subject to falling off. Grinding is, furthermore, a messy and polluting operation and requires the use of a solvent to clean the area which has been ground. Solvents are not only a safety hazard due to fire and fumes, but can only be used on non-painted mouldings. Overall, grinding is a time consuming and expensive operation.
The use of solvents per se is often resorted to in order to prevent any damage to the moulds occurring. Large quantities of solvent have to be applied to be effective which results in wastage, as a good portion cannot be re-used. Furthermore, solvents can present a high fire risk. It is also a messy operation to use solvents requiring a large work area, and operators get their hands covered in glue and solvent. Furthermore, as mentioned above, solvents are limited in their use to non-painted mouldings since they tend to damage paint.
Hot blowers are machines used to heat the adhesive strip to soften the adhesive and thereby permit the strip to be pulled from the molding. Such blowers are expensive and frequently damage the moulding. Hot blowers are not in wide use.
Scraping with a razor blade or thumb has the disadvantage that the operator can end up with blisters or cut fingers. It is also a time-consuming process and therefore expensive.